Welcome to Beyond Ordinary Guides, where we curate gorgeous imagery, locally cherished spots, and accessible stories. We hope you enjoy!
All in Beach
Forty five minutes north of San Francisco lies Muir Beach, a small cove tucked between two rocky cliffs, perfect for a short hike or relaxing on the sand.
The storms happening across the US right now make us want to curl up with a blanket in front of a fireplace and read a good book with a mug of hot chocolate (or a glass of Petite Syrah).
Xenia Rollinson shares the secret to a relaxing, mostly undiscovered holiday. It requires a tiny part of Panama's coast named Santa Catalina.
You’ll want to roll down the windows of your rental car as soon as you turn out of the Honolulu International Airport to take in the ocean breeze. You immediately know you are in tropical paradise. While there are a variety of routes you could take to reach the North Shore, the hour long drive should not be rushed. Kamehameha Highway could be a destination in itself, with the ocean waves breaking over the road in some parts, and the Ko’olau mountain range impressively overlooking the road on the other side. As soon as you arrive, reach for your towel and head to the nearest beach, and you will feel yourself slowly relaxing to the pace of the island.
Braids make sense here. The wind graciously blows the bugs away, but also plasters any hair wispies to skin made sticky from sunscreen and sweat. Braiding my hair tight against my scalp in rows makes practical sense.
When things go the opposite as planned.
Happy Father's Day! Stories from the road while traveling with my dad.
Playa Guiones is a small town, if you can even call it a town. There are no street names (and therefore no street signs), the roads are made of dirt, and it seems that everyone knows everyone.
There are still a lot of unknowns about Zika, so it's hard to decide where the (if any) "safe" places to travel are. We've got you covered (spoiler alert: you should still travel!)
We’d heard that the best way to explore Baja California Sur was via the network of dirt roads that criss cross and meander through the desert. What we’d heard had been right. Cabo is best explored through its dirt highways.
As I sit down to write and reflect on my time along the Trans Catalina Trail, I can see my feet just past the top of my laptop screen. One big toe is bright purple, pulsing as I type. To be honest, the throbbing keeps me up at night. Two other toes are raw pink, the top half of the skin on them literally fell off after the 360 degree blister bulbs on them burst and were subsequently ripped off (nails included). When I got off the ferry in Avalon, I had no idea I was embarking on what I would come to refer to as the “cadence of pain”. To be fair, bouts of laughter so intense they hurt my gut offset said cadence, but my cankles still need to return to being ankles so there’s time for healing.
